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Amazon has announced that it's Instant Video service has secured exclusive rights to Downton Abbey, the same day that Netflix exclusive House of Cards went live. Season 3 of the popular show will debut on Amazon Prime Instant Video on June 18th. The first two seasons are available on Hulu and Netflix, but will be removed later this year. Season 4 (and 5, if produced) will maintain Amazon exclusivity.

It's fun to sit back and observe the battle between Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, but we have to wonder what this does for customers. If you want to be able to watch shows that are exclusive to different services, then you need to be a subscriber to all of them. Not super-expensive at about $25 per month, but it's still a substantial jump over just choosing one service for $8 per month and sticking with it.

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Amazon has just launched a version of its MP3 catalog that is made ready to use for the iPhone or iPod Touch mobile Safari with use of the open standards of HTML5. This is a way for Amazon to avoid the App Store cut of 30% with selling music to iOS users. Customers can view purchases and stream the music via the Amazon Cloud Player app avaible in the App Store.

For the first time ever, iPhone and iPod touch users can discover and buy digital music from Amazon’s 22-million song catalog using the Safari browser. Customers also have access to favorite Amazon features like personalized recommendations, best-seller lists and Amazon customer ratings. Music purchases are automatically saved to customers' Cloud Player libraries and can be downloaded or played instantly from any iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Kindle Fire, Android phone or tablet, Roku, Sonos home entertainment system, any web browser, giving customers the freedom to enjoy more music, from more devices than any other major cloud music service."

Since the launch of the Amazon Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch, a top request from customers has been the ability to buy music from Amazon right from their devices. For the first time ever, iOS users have a way do that – now they can access Amazon’s huge catalog of music, features like personalized recommendations, deals like albums for $5, songs for $0.69, and they can buy their music once and use it everywhere. - Amazon

Nintendo's TVii service for the Wii U is finally out, so you can take advantage of Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video. TVii will act as a media hub, providing several streaming services as well as your cable and DVR boxes into a cross-searchable package. You may've noticed he absence of Netflix and TiVo, however, but they are coming early next year. Japan was lucky enough to receive the service when the Wii U launched on the 8th of December, while folks in the US had no such luck, for whatever reason.

According to Taiwan Economic News, Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. has already begun manufacturing a new smartphone exclusively for Amazon.

The Amazon smartphone is rumored to launch sometime in the second or third quarter of 2013, at a price of $100-200 USD. Five million units are expected to ship in the next year.

Amazon is expected to gain ground quickly in the smartphone business, due mostly to its low cost strategy and loyal consumer base. Stay posted for more updates on Amazon's foray into the smartphone buisness.

Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite is the first front-lit e-book reader that the company has released. Taking the spot as the prime e-ink reader in Amazon's Kindle line-up, the Paperwhite sports a touchscreen interface, Wi-Fi with 3G option, a paper-like display with lots of contrast, and of course, the light. We open up and set up the Kindle Paperwhite in this episode! Be sure to also check out Gear Live's full Kindle Paperwhite review, and our Kindle Paperwhite unboxing gallery.

Amazon is selling the Kindle Fire at a $30 discount for Cyber Monday today, and that's good enough to make that our Deal of the Day. That brings the price down to $129, rather than the typical $159 price tag--a great price for a tablet as functional as the Fire. Purchasers of the Kindle Fire also get a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which'll let you get a nice sampling of what the company's Video on Demand service offers. Other services you can access from the Fire include Amazon's Android Appstore, Kindle books, a host of magazines, Cloud Drive, Cloud Player, and the Amazon MP3 service. To get the deal, enter the promo code FIREDEAL at checkout--Amazon is only allowing one sale per customer.

We try and feature some lust-worthy gadgets in our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide, but we also like to call out great deals on things that you need for those gadgets as well, and that's why we are recommending the 32GB and 16GB Sony SDHC class 10 flash memory cards. Amazon currently has an amazing deal on these cards, sellign each at a substantial discount. The 32GB cards are 67% off, while the 16GB variety are 65% off. Of course, you can use these in anything from a digital camera, to the new Wii U, to simple file storage for your computer. Check them out on Amazon now!

We love to focus on great tech deals in our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide as well, and that's why we are recommending The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-ray--it's currently available as an Amazon Gold Box special, and that makes it $43.49. That is a 64% discount off of Amazon's regular price, and makes a great gift for the movie lover in your life. The set includes the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King Extended Editions,) and has a bunch of footage that was left out of the theatrical releases of the films. Pick this set up today from Amazon before the price goes back up!

Purchasers of the Kindle Fire also get a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which'll let you get a nice sampling of what the company's Video on Demand service offers. Other services you can access from the Fire include Amazon's Android Appstore, Kindle books, a host of magazines, Cloud Drive, Cloud Player, and the Amazon MP3 service.